Tended to Every Fever
by imaginethat57
Summary: It's a month after the Snow Queen has been defeated, and no new evils have surfaced. Robin has left, but Marian and Roland stayed behind. Regina has finally regained some peace; she has her son, and maybe a friend in Emma. But what will happen when she gets a call in the middle of the night from Marian begging for help? Slow burn Maiden Queen.
1. Prologue

**AN: **_Hello! So this idea popped into my head the other day, and I just had to write it. This is a Maiden Queen story. Emma will definitely be a part of it, but this isn't a SQ or a Maiden Swan Queen story. I will ship SQ to the end of time, but I also really liked the idea of Emma being a good friend to Regina, and helping her figure out all her feelings about Marian. _

_This is set after season 4a, with a few minor changes to how Robin left the town. Namely that he took off, and Marian and Roland didn't go with him. He is only mentioned a little bit, this fic is definitely not OQ, and if you're a fan of OQ or Robin you will be disappointed. Also the town line is open. People in town can cross over and come back, and can make contact with people still in Storybrooke._

_I'd love to know what you think! _

_Also, thank you very much to the marvelous swanqueensweaters on tumblr for the title! (If you want, you can come check out my tumblr too: imaginethat57)_

**Prologue**

Regina pads softly into her bedroom, entering from the en suite as she finishes preparing for bed. The quiet of the large house seems to tug at her ears and leaves a bit of a weight on her chest. Nights when her son, Henry, isn't there make their home feel like a vacuously empty space. After the many years Regina spent in aching solitude, the lack of her son's presence is like a punch to the gut and a hole in her heart. Tonight he's with his other mother, and the mayor has the manor to herself. Even though she still worries, Regina knows he's safe with Emma. As much as she hates to admit it, after all the years and all that has passed between her and Henry's birth mother she has grown to trust the woman.

When Emma Swan had first shown up on her front lawn returning the ten year old runaway to his home in Storybrooke, Regina would have done absolutely anything to extricate the blonde nuisance from her life, and especially from Henry's. She did try absolutely everything. When the infuriating woman made it clear she wasn't going anywhere, Regina had only tried harder. In response, Henry's birth mother found a place to live in town and a job as town sheriff. In her attempts to send Emma Swan packing, the line between Madame Mayor and Evil Queen began to blur. Regina became even more determined to hold on to Henry and her secret.

Emma had given him up, tossed him aside, and she had no claim to the boy or the title of his mother. Regina had adopted him. She had done everything for Henry; changed every diaper, soothed every fever and booboo, gone to every school pageant, fed him, clothed him, sang him to sleep, the list went on endlessly. She gave him everything and loved him fiercely, even if he couldn't see it.

Looking back now, Regina knows she made mistakes too. She held onto Henry much too tightly, and her paranoia of losing him had initially meant she was strict and reluctant to let the boy far from her side. When Henry received the storybook from Snow White, Mary Margaret under the curse, that led him down the path of fairytales and Evil Queens and curses, it translated into resorting to mind games to prevent him from proving the truth and leaving her. She should have realized that would only cause him to pull away, but she never thought her son would be the one to discover the curse and the skeletons in the Evil Queen's closet.

Truthfully Henry had been convinced of her Evil Queen status long before that ridiculous woman had stumbled awkwardly into their life. In fact, it was what had led him to seek her out, running away to Boston to find her.

That day had been nothing but blind terror for Regina, frantically searching for her son and imagining the worst possible things that could have befallen him. When she saw him standing on the walkway to the manor she didn't even register the presence of another at first. She saw only her baby boy before her, safe and in one piece, and she instantly wrapped her arms around him. It wasn't until Henry wriggled out of her embrace shouting "I found my real mom!" that she noticed the tall blonde woman in a tacky red leather jacket and absurdly tight denim skinny jeans shuffling nervously off to the side.

Regina didn't think any pain she could experience would cut deeper than to hear Henry call this woman his real mother. She was proven wrong every time the boy so willingly gave Emma the affection he staunchly refused Regina. The possibility of the secret truth of the curse that Henry had learned being exposed had frightened the Evil Queen. But the thought of her cherished son being taken from her, and by his own wishes, was what had truly driven Regina to the intense panic and aggression that marked Emma's first year in town.

Both mothers' desperate fear of being separated from their son had been the driving antagonistic force in the extreme hostility of their initial relationship. It took a cursed apple turnover and Henry in a hospital bed, helpless and so chillingly still while hooked up to countless machines and wires, to make the two women see that that same fear of losing the boy would be what would enable them to work together and keep him safe, and right there with them.

Since then Henry has ended up in far too many similar situations, being taken from his family in one manner or another. The horror of rescues long passed, and that of potential future threats to their child still keeps both Regina and Emma up nights, dread pooling in their souls at the thought of any harm coming to him. What they never anticipated, though, was that it would turn the two women into a team; a force to be reckoned with, and a combined power to be feared. Despite all of this, Regina would gladly put herself under a sleeping curse before she conceded that not only had Emma and herself developed an understanding that lent itself to an effective co-parenting system, but that that had also become the closest thing to a real friendship Regina had really ever had.

Pulling back the covers, Regina smirks to herself as she recalls the events that had marked the beginning of the evolution of this newest facet of their relationship.

Robin Hood, supposed soulmate of the Evil Queen, had disappeared, and Regina had found herself staring into an untouched cup of tea at Granny's Diner wondering if her happy ending would ever be more than wisps of potential that were blown her way only to ripped from her mercilessly. As she sat silently brooding, filled to the brim with bitter resentment for seemingly the whole world, of course it would be Emma that had approached her.

_"You don't need a hope speech, Regina. You need a drinking buddy. Shots?"_

Regina had wanted to spit angry words at the blonde; had been doing so for weeks anyways. She had made it pointedly clear with whom she laid blame for her current predicament, and if she gained a certain cathartic gratification from taking her anger out on the woman who had been a consistent thorn in her side then no one would really be surprised. Regina might not be the Evil Queen anymore, but no one had ever accused her of being rational or kind in times of heartbreak.

Besides, it felt much better to blame the sheriff for everything than admit that maybe it was inevitable anyways. _If that imbecilic magical novice hadn't fallen into the damn time portal and brought that woman back with her, Robin would still be mine. I would still have a chance. He's gone now, he's gone and I'm alone. Again._

A familiar tinge of rage and despair tingled in Regina's heart and bubbled up into her chest, but she was too tired. Exhausted from a life time of fighting tooth and nail, and she just didn't have it in her this time to hate Emma. She knew deep down that the hapless blonde hadn't intended for any of this to happen, and that Emma was never the source of the problems that plagued her and Robin's relationship. Emma may have accidentally brought the man's wife back with her from the past, to save her from Regina's own wrath no less, but saving people was what the woman did. She even bore it in her title, the 'Savior' as determined by the dark curse that had brought them all to this land, and the weight of it instilled in her a desperate need to rescue everyone. Regina mused it was likely part of her nature as well. The Savior has the DNA of Snow White and Prince Charming, renowned do-gooders, after all.

Whatever or whoever Emma is aside, Regina had always known that Robin wasn't the right fit for her. He was supposed to be her pixie dust guaranteed ticket to a happy ending, but being with him felt like trying to force two pieces of a jigsaw that didn't go together. None of it mattered now anyways. He and the other Merry Men had crossed over the town line earlier that day, leaving behind not only Regina, but his wife and son as well.

The day before Robin had announced that he couldn't go on feeling torn between the two women, once again citing a desire to uphold his honor, but this time he wanted to be with Regina. He chose her, and she chose not to focus on his ever vacillating definition of honor. That, or the acrid taste in her mouth that she couldn't quite place.

When Marian had approached her in Granny's earlier that day, she went on about how she could see Robin's love for Regina, and how she didn't want to stand in the way of it. Regina had ignored the other woman's forced smile and the obvious way the words tripped off her tongue like acid. She had felt elated as the darker skinned brunette bowed out and ensured Regina's victory. The surge of that victory had lasted into that afternoon, and it had continued up until her conversation with Robin.

They were sitting side by side on a bench in the park, faces turned to look each other in the eye. But when he opened his mouth, Regina realized that she had been blinded by the triumph, and now she was looking at her prize before her in the form of a bandit turned homeless forest man in this world. Bile had started rising in her throat as she began to understand that maybe this wasn't what she wanted, that he wasn't what she wanted.

She was supposed to be happy with him; this was her last chance and she was finally being chosen, but that was the problem. She had never truly felt like she had a choice in any of this, it was fate and everyone including the unseen forces of the universe seemed to be screaming at her to do this. It had even come down to Robin's decision between herself and Marian. His choice, fate's choice, pixie dust's choice, but never Regina's; and she just couldn't stomach that anymore. Robin had begun to blur in front of her, and sound faded out around her as the deep seated terror of being controlled began to froth into rabid terror that churned inside her.

Regina stood abruptly, cutting off whatever Robin had been saying. With wide, frantic eyes, she ran one hand through her chocolate colored hair as the other subconsciously moved to clutch at her stomach. What seemed to be the permanent confusion etched onto Robin's features had only deepened as he looked at her silently. She tried in vain to explain what she was feeling, but had no words to describe it. While she fruitlessly attempted to make him understand, Robin couldn't grasp why she wasn't thrilled to have been graced with his presence. It degenerated into a shouting match between the two, and Robin had stalked off.

A short while later the forest dwelling outlaw approached Marian. The Merry Men had decided that now that the barrier of ice walls had come down from Storybrooke's borders, they wanted to explore what this world had to offer. Robin, being their leader, had wanted to join them. They'd spent the entirety of their adult lives thieving unsuspecting wealthy persons in the Enchanted Forest, but that kind of life style was unfeasible in the small town of Storybrooke. Robin was also relishing the opportunity to escape Regina, grasping at straws trying to piece his life back together. So the famed bandit went to the woman he had once called his love, and asked her to come along as well. They could bring their son, Roland, and start all over again. Marian had proceeded to spend the next solid twenty minutes vehemently refusing his offer and letting him know exactly what she thought of his _honor_.

Once that had passed, the ensuing fight over who Roland was going to stay with had dragged on for close to an hour. The solution was only determined when Robin conceded that he had no idea how stable his life would be for the foreseeable future once he ventured past Storybrooke limits, nor a single clue how to provide for the boy if not through robbery. The following day, he and the others passed over the town line. Regina had gone to say goodbye, even though she wasn't quite sure why. The best she could figure was that she had hoped to achieve some sense of closure, but in truth the whole situation just felt like a mess she was glad to no longer be dealing with.

The immediate sense of relief that washed over Regina at his absence had been telling. Marian, however, had been beside herself, and Regina couldn't fault her for it. In what was an alarmingly short period of time for the unfortunate wife of Robin Hood; she had been captured by the Evil Queen and narrowly escaped death at the then bloodthirsty royal's hands, had been brought through time and space to an entirely new world decades into the future, had found her husband to be romantically involved with the very same Evil Queen who had nearly succeeding in murdering her back in the old world, been frozen solid for weeks on end, only to wake once more to find her husband had been unable to save her with true love's kiss as he no longer loved her. And finally, after all of this, the man had left; abandoned her and Roland. Truthfully the poor woman had only been conscious or present for less than a week of the events that transpired over thirty years, and when she finally reached the other side of it she was left reeling, baffled at how much had drastically changed.

Six feet away from where Regina stood before the bright orange line that denoted the edge of the town, Marian scooped up the small boy clinging to her legs as he cried forcefully and repeatedly asked his mother, "Where's Papa? Why did he leave? Where's Papa going? Mama, when is Papa coming back?"

Witnessing this caused guilt to gnaw deep inside Regina. The liberation she felt at Robin's departure seemed horribly inappropriate as she watched the five year old boy bury his face in his mother's dark hair and cry harder, still calling out for his Papa, and the woman holding onto him as though she had nothing left in the world but the dear child in her arms. Regina had wanted to reach out to them, but swiftly dismissed the idea. The pair wanted nothing of the Evil Queen who had torn their family and their lives apart, so the olive skinned brunette simply made her exit as quietly as she could to give them their privacy.

Once her sense of reprieve shaded with remorse had faded to the background somewhat, Regina had realized that she was once again completely alone. Robin was supposed to be it for her, and now he was gone. She couldn't force herself to be with him, but the thought that she was never meant to find anyone else was what had sent her to Granny's that night. She wasn't sure how long her staring match with the tea cup had lasted before her son's fair skinned mother was plopping herself gracelessly on the stool next to her holding up a tequila shot for each of them.

She and Emma hadn't even had the opportunity to down one shot before Henry came barreling into the scene bursting with excitement. The preteen boy had discovered something pertaining to their search to find the author of his storybook, the one that told the tales of all their lives in the Enchanted Forest. The goal was to ask this author to write Regina a happier ending, Operation Mongoose as Henry and his brunette mother had dubbed it.

Regina allows herself a small genuine smile when she thinks of Emma jumping into Operation Mongoose with complete conviction.

_"I made you a promise I intend to keep, Regina. Everyone deserves their happy ending."_

A month has passed since and Storybrooke has found itself in a tentative peace for the moment. Snow White had assumed the position of mayor for a short while on their return to Storybrooke after the whole Peter Pan fiasco, but promptly found she had no appetite for the kind of leadership this world required of her. Regina was set to resume her place in town hall soon.

She hadn't heard from Robin since the day he left, though she's heard through the rumor mill that he has had some contact with Marian and Roland. The pair had taken over the Merry Men's camp in the forest. Regina saw them wandering around the town from time to time, but Marian seemed to be a bit of a loner. Regina speculated that with everything that had happened to the woman she was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the people, the world around her, what her life had become in the blink of an eye, and now she was trying to hold onto the only sense of familiarity she had; the forest.

Emma, however, had finally moved from her parent's loft and found an apartment of her own. Regina had thoroughly inspected it before agreeing that it would be a suitable environment for Henry to live in part time. To Regina's infinite shock the blonde woman had also stuck true to her word regarding Operation Mongoose, dedicating a good deal of time and energy into the operation. Over the past month Emma had not only helped in the search for the author, but been a source of support and friendship for Regina that the brunette had not seen coming.

Regina settles her head on the pillow, finally shutting her eyes after a very long day, but the small grin on her face persists. No one is there to see it, and she would never admit to it, but the corners of her lips tug up slightly as she begins to drift off. For once she feels like she might actually be okay. Maybe she won't find anyone to be with, and she'd be lying if she said that didn't hurt- she did lie about it frequently. But she has her son; he's all she really needs. And now she might even have a friend. It's not the same thing as a lover, but it's no less important. Her last thought before sleep claims her, is that it certainly does help soothe some of the all too familiar sting of loneliness as well.

* * *

The sound of her cell phone ringing cuts through the thick silence and rouses Regina from her dreamless sleep. She rolls over to check the time, and when she sees the electric light of the digital clock face illuminating 2:36 AM a jolt of alarm shoots through her. Instantly her mind begins concocting all manners of horrible scenarios where Henry is hurt or missing or in danger and she frantically scrabbles for her phone.

In her panic she doesn't check the name flashing on the screen, and doesn't bother with greetings as soon as she connects to the line on the other side of the call.

"Henry? What's wrong, is Henry okay? Is he hurt?"

There's a beat of silence on the other end and Regina's heart feels like it's going to violently jackhammer its way out of her ribcage.

"Y-your majesty?" A woman's voice finally filters through the phone's speaker. It sounds familiar but Regina can't place it, her mind is too busy spinning in circles with worry for her baby.

"Do I sound like a queen right now?" She all but shouts into the receiver, "What's wrong with my son?!"

The voice on the line grows louder in response, and the obvious fear and anxiety in it sets Regina even more on edge.

"It's not your son, it's mine! I'm sorry, I don't know how to contact anyone else in this town, I didn't know what else to do. Please, your majesty, you don't know me or care about me, but you cared for Robin's son, Roland, yes? Please, something's wrong!"

When she speaks, Regina understands now that it is Marian on the other end of this call. Somewhere in the back of her mind she questions how the woman was able to contact her, but it barely pings at her conscious thought for the time being. At the same time as intense relief for Henry's sake seeps through, deep dread at the thought of Robin's young son in peril begins to prick at her nerves. It's true, she had grown close to the young child in her brief time with the outlaw. He was absolutely precious and impossible not to adore. Her love for the boy had far outweighed any affection she felt for his father, had Regina spent more time with him she's sure she would have grown to think of Roland as another son. The thought of something happening to him leaves a feeling like rocks in her stomach.

"Where are you?"

"In our camp, where Robin and his men stayed in this forest before, it's by the-"

Before Marian can even finish her sentence static cuts through the line, and a deep purple smoke begins swirling a few feet away from where she sits.


	2. Chapter 1

_"Where are you?"_

_"In our camp, where Robin and his men stayed in this forest before, it's by the-"_

_Before Marian can even finish her sentence static cuts through the line, and a deep purple smoke begins swirling a few feet away from where she sits._

Marian blinks a few times, not quite sure what she's seeing as she looks into the blackness that cloaks the world outside the safety of her tent. She holds the lantern in her hand out further, straining her eyes to make sense of the dark cloud that has materialized. She reels back a moment when she sees the form of a person emerging as the smoke begins to clear. The form steps closer to her and she instinctively positions herself between the shadowy figure approaching her and her sleeping child.

The frightened mother opens her mouth to say something, anything to assess the situation, but nothing comes out, and the figure hurriedly steps closer. Soon they're within the reach of the light still in Marian's outstretched hand. Once the lantern illuminates the figure's face, the words previously trapped on Marian's tongue come spilling out with haste.

"Your majesty! Please help! It's Roland, he's sick. I don't know what to do for him anymore, I've tried everything. He's been burning up with fever; I've never encountered a fever this warm before! It feels like placing my hand on a hot coal when I check his forehead." She pauses to suck in a gulp of air, stifling a sob at the thought of her baby suffering before she continues, "He started throwing up, and he's in pain. Please, please. I've never seen him like this, I don't know what to do for him. Not in this world especially. There has to be a medicine person in a town of this size, right? Where do I take him, please, I can't lose him!"

During her frantic rambling Regina had moved to crouch down beside the other young woman. The former queen takes everything in, eyes flicking back and forth between Marian's panicked expression and Roland bundled up half in his mother's lap. He's shaking, and sweat has soaked through his curly brown hair so that it sticks to his forehead. He looks ashen and even in a fitful sleep, his bottom lip still trembles as though he were ready to cry.

Regina turns her focus back to the other woman, but before she can speak Marian launches into her plea for help once more.

"Please, you have to do something. He's just a child. He's a child and I can't do anything, but I can't be this useless! I'm his mother, and there's nothing I can do so you have to help me. I'll do anything, whatever it takes. I'll take him anywhere, pay anything, I don't care. And don't tell me this is just a fever and that it will pass! Don't, just don't. It's worse. I don't know how I know, but I can feel it in my gut. He needs help, and you have to-"

At this point Regina cuts Marian off with a hand swiftly yet gently reaching out to grab the other woman's arm.

"Marian, stop. It's alright; I am going to help you. And you're right; this doesn't seem like a normal fever. There is somewhere we can take him, the medical resources they have in this world are astounding compared to the Enchanted Forest. We'll take him to the hospital. There are doctors and medical experts there and they will take very good care of Roland, but we need to hurry."

Upon hearing his name, the young boy stirs in his mother's lap. He lets out a little sob, and with a voice scratchy from retching and crying he pitifully whines out, "Mama," before more sobs follow.

Both women's hearts break for the child. Marian pulls him closer to her and runs a hand softly through his sweat damp hair in a desperate attempt to soothe him even a little. Tears are streaking down Marian's own face when she lifts her eyes to be level with the regal woman before her, the air of royalty emanating from her even when crouching in the dirt of the forest over a sick child.

"Please," she whispers one final time when their eyes lock.

Regina nods in response, "I can get us there immediately with magic. Do I have your permission to transport the three of us there now?"

"Yes, yes of course! Just hurry, please." Marian feels the first tendrils of hope begin to unfurl in her chest but she pushes them away in favor of focusing on the task at hand.

"Alright, dear. Hold on tight to Roland, and brace yourself. It can be a bit disorienting especially if you've never experienced it before." With that Regina places one hand on the boy's shoulder, the other still resting on Marian's arm, and wills her magic to the surface.

* * *

No amount of bracing could have prepared Marian for the sensation that comes with the teleportation. Disintegration is the closest she could come to describing it. For a moment she feels as though she has dissolved into the most infinitesimal pieces of herself that whip through the wind in a strangled cloud, only for the chaotic motion to stop sharply in the next instant. As though suddenly magnetized, each piece rapidly draws back together to reconstitute her form. With no warning her feet touch solid ground beneath her and as she regains her sense of physical presence, she also feels her legs give out from the shock of it all.

With her child still bundled in her arms, Marian lurches forward. She is only half aware of the arms that manage to catch both mother and child enough to prevent the woman's knees from colliding violently with the ground. Slowly she is lowered the rest of the way, clearly unable to hold herself upright for the time being, but soon the presence of whoever had caught her vanishes. Her head swims and everything around her is bright and white hot in her vision. She has to fight furtively to get her lungs to take even one breath, and her ears are ringing. It feels as if she had left a good portion of vital organs behind her in the forest as well.

The once bandit leaves one arm curled protectively around her child, holding him close to her chest as she puts the hand of the other arm to the floor to prop herself up enough to keep from collapsing the rest of her weight fully and crushing him. She drinks in deep lungfuls of air, focusing on the contrast of her golden brown skin against the hard white floor beneath her to try to regain her bearings. There is an urgent buzzing all around her, and she's fighting to cut through what's left of the haze in her mind to understand what is happening. The gut wrenching sound of Roland crying louder than he's had the energy to in hours invades Marian's senses. Evidently the teleportation mixed with the sickness was fiercely unpleasant for him as well, and it's his suffering that brings Marian fully back to her senses.

She looks up and immediately makes a valiant effort to stand, but her muscles protest and she only manages to rise half a foot before her knees are connected to the ground once more and she is once again supporting her weight on an outstretched hand. Regina is nowhere to be found, and she can only assume that they've landed somewhere in what the woman had called a hospital. What she can't figure out is why she and Roland seemingly appeared there alone.

In reality, Regina being long ago accustomed to this form of travel had regained her senses instantly after materializing in the halls of the hospital. She had anticipated Marian's reaction, and readied herself to catch the stumbling woman. Once she had successfully lowered her to the floor, pausing long enough to see that the darker skinned brunette still had a firm grip on Roland, she had vaulted off the floor towards the nurse's station around the corner to get help as fast as possible.

Marian has lost all sense of time, but it's less than two minutes before Regina rounds the corner again with a doctor and three nurses in tow. Marian is looking up at the former queen in almost the same position she had left her in, but this time struggling noticeably to stand.

"Help, please, my son," she chokes out as Regina and those with her approach quickly.

Suddenly there's a middle aged woman in a white coat kneeling in front of her, russet colored hair tied back into a loose bun. She can see the woman's lips moving, but the words don't quite register. The woman makes a movement and the understanding that she's trying to take Roland from her hits Marian in the face. She wraps her arms desperately tight around the still shaking and crying Roland and begins to hastily scoot backwards when she feels a hand squeeze her shoulder. Marian whips her head around and finds a pair of deep mocha eyes searching her own.

_Regina. No longer the Evil Queen Regina._ Her mind helpfully supplies.

"Marian. Marian, it's alright. This is Doctor Kent. She isn't going to hurt Roland, she's going to help him. It's okay, it's okay." The deep, rich sound of the queen's voice somehow manages to resonate in her mind, and before she knows it Marian is nodding. She tries to swallow a sob as she looks down to her baby. He looks unimaginably even worse off than before, and it's clawing into her gut. Gingerly she shifts her precious bundle towards the doctor, and winces at the stabbing feeling in her esophagus that comes with the sight of her baby boy being gathered up in the arms of this complete stranger. As the woman pulls away to stand, Marian's heart goes with him.

She's fatigued from watching over Roland all through the previous night, the day today, and long into the night once more. The teleportation had sapped the last of her stamina. Though the adrenaline coursing through her veins gives her enough energy to push forward, lingering exhaustion and fear tug at the edges of her consciousness. When the mother tries to clamber after her son, her muscles are weak and the resulting motions are jerky and uncoordinated.

For a moment, Marian thinks she might fall again but then there are strong arms around her waist and her right arm is slung around the shoulders connected to the arms holding her up. Her brain vaguely acknowledges that this is likely Regina, but she doesn't turn to see who has heaved her the rest of the way to her feet, eyes not leaving her child for a single moment. The older woman who she passed him to has already placed him on a strange thin bed with wheels and there is a host of other people swarming around the five year old boy.

Marian leans heavily on the figure that is holding her upright and surges forward to be by Roland's side once more. She grabs onto his tiny hand and watches with raptor eyes everything that these people are doing to her son.

Doctor Kent turns to Marian and she's speaking again. "Ma'am, what's your son's name? Can you describe to me what his symptoms have been?"

It takes a second for Marian's brain to kick into gear, but her mouth is faster and she's speaking before she really understands what she's saying.

"Roland, his name is Roland. He's had a fever since last night. It's only gotten worse no matter what I tried to bring it down. He's been throwing up." Marian closes her eyes and fretfully adds, "A lot. About an hour ago he started screaming. Pain, um, severe pain in his stomach. That was when I called the Qu-"

The bandit cuts herself off abruptly, uncertain how to refer to the dark sorceress in this realm. She's struck by the absurdity of calling the woman she has only known as the Evil Queen to help her sick child. However, given that the very same woman was the one who had rushed to Marian and Roland's aid without hesitation, and was even currently propping the drained woman up against her own body, the term Evil Queen hardly seemed fitting.

The doctor had nodded along as she listened intently to Marian speaking, making note of everything. Soon enough the strange bed is being pushed through a corridor, and they're moving her child again. Regina follows them, wordlessly dragging Marian with her as the mother stumbles slightly in her efforts to hasten after her son. They emerge at the other end of the corridor into a large room filled with more of these beds, just like the one Roland has been placed in. There are light blue curtains drawn around some of the beds, no doubt to provide whatever privacy possible.

Roland's bed is wheeled over to a section of the room, and the scraping of the metal hooks holding up the curtain moving through the groove of the track fills Marian's ears as the blue cloth wall closes them off from the rest of the world.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:** _All my medical knowledge comes from watching medical dramas and my own experiences in hospital. I've surely taken some creative liberties with it, especially the speed with which they get things done (although this would be an emergency case so surely they'd move faster)._

_If you notice something glaringly wrong though, please let me know!_

_Warning: There's talk of hospitals, needles, IVs, and vomiting._

* * *

_Roland's bed is wheeled over to a section of the room, and the scraping of the metal hooks holding up the curtain moving through the groove of the track fills Marian's ears as the blue cloth wall closes them off from the rest of the world._

He's still whimpering softly, and Marian squeezes his hand repeatedly to let him know she's still there.

Two of the nurses are pulling out medical equipment left and right as Doctor Kent and the third nurse continue examining Roland. Marian watches as the doctor lays one hand on top of the other and places the palm of the bottom hand against different spots of Roland's belly and pushes softly. Roland is only semiconscious, but when she reaches a particular spot he still flinches and screeches, calling out "Mama!"

Marian didn't think her heart could break any further, but that cry had shattered the remaining pieces. She is so petrified and fraught with worry that suddenly she's screaming herself, tears she isn't even aware of freely flowing down her face. "What did you just do to him! What did you do? You might have just made it worse, you hurt him! Why aren't you helping him? He's in pain, he's just a baby! Help him! Please, please, help him!"

Regina can feel Marian grow impossibly even tenser when the woman sees all the machines, tubes and wires surrounding her son. She can't make sense of any of it, it's all painfully foreign to her and she doesn't know how to trust these people. They're quickly volleying orders in alien words, the medical terms a language she can't comprehend. There are shiny metal objects on shiny metal tables, sharp looking tools, strange looking boxes making stranger noises that remind her of the device called a phone that Robin had given her when he left, and harsh, garish lights illuminate the whole scene. None of this is from her world, and Marian is so far out of the realm of what she understands that her suspicion and fear of it is paralyzing. When one of the nurses takes out a needle and moves to place it in the crook of Roland's arm, she's shouting again.

"Stop, stop, what is that? What are you doing to him?" She's reached across the bed and seized the man's wrist with an iron grip before he is able to move another inch. "What is all of this?"

The man is shocked at the unexpected force of her grasp, and for a brief moment all the movement swirling around Roland's bed comes to a grinding halt. Marian can't tell if she's more enraged that they stopped or that they were moving in the first place. Doctor Kent, however, doesn't seem to be particularly fazed by the outburst. The older woman begins to speak, and Marian's glare is livid when she turns her focus on the doctor.

"Ma'am, I understand that you are probably more terrified now than you've ever been in your life, but I promise you, we are doing everything we can to help your son. What you just saw was me conducting a physical exam of his abdomen. Believe me, causing Roland any more pain is not something I want, but I can't understand what the problem is if I can't tell where in his abdomen the pain is coming from." The doctor's voice is calm and patient as she explains; an assuredness to it that has come with years of dealing with fearful parents and families of patients.

Some of the fight in Marian's stance recedes, but she doesn't let go of the man's arm. Instead she tightens her clasp and flicks her gaze back to him, silently demanding an answer.

Doctor Kent immediately responds, still completely composed. "This is Ethan. I've asked him to start an IV on your son. That means he's going to place this needle into a vein in Roland's arm so that we can give him medicine and fluids quickly and much more effectively. He's going to use a needle to place the IV, but the metal part won't stay in his arm. It'll be an extremely small, thin plastic tube that remains, which will be connected to more plastic tubing outside his arm that we can administer whatever drugs necessary through. Yes, it will pinch, but believe me, Roland needs it."

What truly causes Marian to tip her head in the slightest of nods and relinquish her death grip on the nurse's wrist is the weight that Doctor Kent's voice bears. It shows her that the gravity of the situation hasn't been missed. The fire in Marian's eyes is still burning though as she quietly watches the IV slide into her son's arm.

Regina's voice sounds close to her ear, and she startles a little at it. In her frenzied state she had almost forgotten that the other woman was there, still clutching tightly around Marian's waist to prevent her legs from giving out on her once more.

"Doctor Kent, Marian wasn't brought to this world by the curse. Either curse. She's been here only a short while, and has had little exposure to modern technology, especially medical advancements. I think it would be far better for everyone if you and your team could explain what you are doing as you work." There was no mistaking the order in the former queen's statement, and Marian found herself immensely grateful for it, sparing a brief glance to her right to quickly observe the woman's rigid expression.

"Of course." Doctor Kent responded with gentle understanding, ignoring the mayor's intimidating tone altogether. The unflappable woman's utter dismissal of the underlying threat in Regina's speech irked the mayor, but she simply pursed her lips together and narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly.

"Alright, well, Ethan has the IV in now. He's taking a small sample of Roland's blood so we can test it; often we can find what's wrong with a patient by analyzing their blood. The next thing he'll be doing is starting a bag of fluids. Your son is surely dehydrated from the vomiting and profuse perspiration. I'm going to use this," she holds up a black object, shaped slightly like a large Y, with two blunted points that curve in at the upper tips, and a metal cylinder cinched in the middle at the bottom of the lower stem, "it's called a stethoscope, to listen to your son's heart and lungs. It amplifies the sound so I can hear them."

While the doctor places the blunt ends in her ears and the metal surface to Roland's chest she stops speaking, and in the absence of her voice Marian can hear only the blood rushing in her ears. Kent pulls the stethoscope away, wraps it around the back of her neck again, and writes something down before speaking once more.

All four medical professionals are moving swiftly to complete the tasks Doctor Kent continues to narrate, the dialogue not serving to slow them down. "Karen, the woman on your right, she's attaching electrodes to his chest. Those will then be connected to wires which will feed into the machine that monitors his heart rate; tells us how fast it's beating. Once she has finished with that, she'll get the blood pressure cuff which she will wrap around Roland's arm and give us his BP. And Jacky, behind Ethan, is digging out the thermometer. She will use that to find out what the exact temperature of Roland's fever is. All of these numbers are called his vitals, and they tell us a good deal of information that allows us to assess his condition."

Marian's eyes widen. She still hasn't quite understood half of what the doctor said to her, but she zeroes in on one thing mentioned. Her vision snaps to the woman Kent has indicated as Jacky, who by now has located the thermometer and is stepping back towards the bed with it in hand.

"You can do that? Find out exactly how warm he is? How does that work?"

It's Regina who fields this one. "Yes, dear. They can figure out the temperature of the fever, the thermometer measures it; we use numbers to give it a scale. A temperature of between 98 and 99 is typically healthy, anything higher than that is a fever."

Kent observes the queen with a curious expression, but says nothing as she works steadily. Jacky has taken the thermometer, placed the flat metal plane of the circular surface at the top on the center of Roland's forehead and dragged it swiftly down to where his jaw meets the space just below his ear. It beeps lightly and Jacky reads off the number.

"104.1, Doctor Kent."

At that, the urgency of the team's movements ramps up and the tension in the room is palpable. Marian can feel, more than hear, Regina sucking in a deep breath. She looks back over to her right, stomach churning when she notices the alarm shining in the olive skinned woman's dark eyes.

"What does that mean? How does this number scale work? Is that bad, is it high?"

When Regina visibly swallows but doesn't answer the panic raging inside Marian whips into hysteria.

It's Doctor Kent who's speaking now, Marian listens attentively but her eyes have locked back onto her son. His skin has gone from sickly pale to an unnerving slight yellow.

The physician's voice is measured, her resolve unwavering, but there is a deep solemnity etched into her words. "Yes, it is very high. We have to find out what's causing it, so we know how to attack it. But your son can't wait for us to do all the tests to get the right medicine for him. Jacky has gone to get ice. It sounds primitive, but it will help keep him cooler long enough for us to find the cause and treat it. We've already sent the blood we took off to the lab and asked them to rush the results. What we need to do now while we wait for them to come back is move your son to CT. We have machines that can show us what his organs look like, and that's what we need to do now."

Marian wants to ask what _that _means. _What is a machine? And how in the hell are they going to look at his organs with it?_ But everything is moving so fast now that she can't even figure out where to start. She decides it's probably easier to see what they're talking about than to have them try to explain it anyways, and determine whether she should let it near her son when she sees it.

When out of the corner of her eye Doctor Kent notices Jacky running towards them with ice packs in her arms, the middle aged woman starts kicking at the wheels of the bed, knowing the nurse will catch up to them swiftly. The sound of a latch releasing follows shortly after. Next she's pulling thick railings made from a material Marian isn't familiar with, _maybe it's this plastic Kent mentioned_, up from the sides of the bed, and then they're on the move again. They're full out sprinting and Marian is doing her best to keep up, only managing to do so because of Regina. She is profoundly grateful for the queen who is still permitting the exhausted mother to use her as a human crutch and preventing her from toppling over.

As they're running Roland turns slightly and begins retching once more, pausing in between heaves to sob intermittently. Marian's face is soaked in her own anguished tears, and does anything she can to soothe him. The nurses had fortunately placed a shallow, pink, oblong bucket beside him before they had started moving again, and Marian is able to maneuver it into a position where Roland can continue vomiting without soiling the sheets anymore. Everyone runs faster.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:** Very slight trigger warning for Regina's self loathing in this chapter, it's brief and not at all the main focus of the chapter. It will be a reoccurring theme, likely in varying levels of intensity throughout, but I'll let you know if it ramps up.

* * *

_As they're running Roland turns slightly and begins retching once more, pausing in between heaves to sob intermittently. Marian's face is soaked in her own anguished tears, and does anything she can to soothe him. The nurses had fortunately placed a shallow, pink, oblong bucket beside him before they had started moving again, and Marian is able to maneuver it into a position where Roland can continue vomiting without soiling the sheets anymore. Everyone runs faster._

Marian has relocated her death grip to Regina. She stands in a small, suffocating room. The tips of one hand's fingers rest uselessly against the glass window in front of her that separates her from her child, and the other holds to the queen's hand tightly. Regina is still helping her stand, one arm around the bandit's waist, and the other hanging loosely in front of them as the hand connected to it is trapped in Marian's grasp. Marian doesn't even remember grabbing it, but now it's the only thing tethering her.

Guilt creeps steadily through Regina's veins as she stands with the distraught woman. She takes no pleasure in Marian or anyone's suffering; those days have long passed. But she can't push down the feeling of warmth that had spread through her when the other woman had sought comfort with her of all people, the Evil Queen. She hates that both mother and son are in so much misery, wishing deeply that she could somehow undo this and take away their pain. There isn't anything she can do, though. And so she stands silently, offering both literal and emotional support for the woman still leaning against her.

That Regina's efforts to console weren't met with immediate revulsion had astounded her. She had thought for sure when she had quietly offered her hand to Marian that it would have been slapped away in disgust, but instead the other woman had latched on instantly and hadn't let go since. She's keeping the wonder and happiness over this, that anyone would accept her compassion, locked tight inside her chest. She knows how hideously inappropriate it is given the situation. The bones of her hand feel as though they're slowly being crushed, but Regina says nothing in protest and simply squeezes back.

The mayor is intensely aware of the others in the room regarding her actions with prying interest, but she obstinately ignores them. Marian, however, is only vaguely aware of anything around her. Her focus is concentrated on Roland. Through that infuriating glass barrier, her child lies in this _machine_. The word is still unfamiliar on her tongue and in her mind. It's a giant contraption, the likes of which Marian has never conceived of before. Upon seeing it, she had breathlessly asked, "Is it magic?" To which the doctor had answered in the negative but persistently affirmed it was safe for Roland.

She sings softly, a lullaby her own mother had sung to her as a little girl back in their village. When the doctor had forced the mother and son on separate sides of the glass, Roland had begun to squirm and cry out for her. He only settled enough for the test to work when the doctor had pushed some sort of button and asked Marian to speak to calm the child, promising he would be able to hear her through the wall.

Now she stares at the massive machine that engulfs her baby and makes him look tinier than he ever has; even smaller than the day he was born and the perfect, squalling bundle no bigger than a bread loaf was first placed in her arms. She stares and sings around the enormous lump in her throat. She can't do anything to stop his pain, she can't heal him, doesn't know what's wrong with him, but she can sing to him. Marian can feel the eyes of the others in the room boring into her back, watching inquisitively as the Evil Queen comforts a bandit. She can't summon up an ounce of herself that cares even remotely what they have to say about it though.

Unsure of how much time has passed spent watching her son, the mother continues her lullaby until the doctor interrupts.

"Alright, let's get him out of there."

Marian's feet are moving towards the door before she consciously decides to do so, and soon she's holding onto Roland's hand again as he's transitioned back into his bed. There are two nurses with her that start pushing the bed out of both rooms and Doctor Kent stays behind to study the images that the test yielded.

Marian doesn't pay much attention to which direction they're moving in now, but soon they've come to another room. It's small, and there is a large window on one side with more curtains drawn tight over it. The nurses have pushed Roland's bed into the center of this room, and suddenly everything is unerringly still. The whirlwind of nurses and doctors around her son ceases once they've got the wheels of the bed locked in place. Marian doesn't even register that she has been gently pushed into the chair by the boy's bedside until minutes later.

Her brain finally understands that she was moved to a seated position when she begins to feel the deep physical relief of no longer standing. She looks up to Regina with a furrowed brow, and Regina returns the look with one arched eyebrow of her own.

Their eyes connect and for a moment they're locked in a staring match. It draws out longer than either of them notices at first, but when Marian realizes how comfortable she feels gazing into the queen's eyes it unsettles her enough to cause the bandit to clear her throat awkwardly and break the contact. Regina says nothing, but places her hand on Marian's shoulder and turns her attention back to Roland.

The darker skinned brunette finally finds her voice after an unknown amount of time has passed with the only sound being Roland's quiet, occasional whines and the steady beeps of the heart monitor fixed to the corner of the bed above the boy's head.

"Why did you help us?"

Seconds beat into minutes and still Regina has said nothing, so Marian lifts her eyes from Roland and looks to the other woman. She thinks the queen's own eyes have widened, and that her posture has gone even stiffer, but then again maybe by this point she's just imagining things. She wouldn't be surprised. When it's clear that no answer is forthcoming, Marian sighs quietly and resumes watching over her son.

* * *

The stillness doesn't last, because before long there are more people in matching white coats filing quickly into the room. Their expressions are severe, and Marian swallows the lump in her throat for the thousandth time since this nightmare began. Doctor Kent is there, and she introduces the others she brought with her. Doctors Yin and Lester nod at her respectively in greeting.

Kent removes something from an oversized envelope. Marian's never seen parchment like this before; large, shiny, and blackish blue; and she's even more amazed when the doctor places it on a box affixed to the wall and switches a light on within it. The light from the box shines through the strange parchment from behind and reveals images hidden within it. Marian has no idea what she's looking at, so she turns to the doctor with an expectant look on her face.

"Marian, these are Roland's organs. We've found the cause of his illness. See this right here?" Kent points to something small in the mass of unintelligible blobs that are supposed to be her son's organ tissue. Marian can't distinguish one object from anything else on the image, and she begins anxiously shaking her head.

"What, ah, what is it? I don't-" The lump feels as if dangerously close to closing her throat, and Marian has to swallow over it for the umpteenth time. "I don't understand what I'm seeing." She finishes quietly.

The doctor smiles sympathetically at the disheveled mother, and indicates again what she has evidently determined as the cause of Roland's suffering. She circles a small, round form on the image with her finger before speaking again, "This right here is what's doing this. It's a cyst on Roland's liver."

"What's a cyst?" Marian whispers, Regina softly squeezes her shoulder.

"It's a growth, a small fluid filled sac that has its own membrane separate from the surrounding tissue. This one would have been growing for a long time, but didn't cause any discernible discomfort until it got large enough to start causing problems. It's ruptured, which means the sac has burst and the fluid is leaking out. That's what caused the more intense pain. Earlier tonight, when Roland began screaming is likely when it burst. We need to remove it immediately."

It takes a moment for Marian to get the next question out, "Wha- what? Remove it? I don't understand, how? If it's on his liver, how can you remove it? Magic?" She's looking back and forth between Kent and Regina, the latter's expression unreadable, just waiting for any of this to make sense.

"We need to perform surgery on Roland."

"What the hell does that mean?" Marian's voice is starting to grow in volume again, and she locks onto Regina. Her eyes stay fixed there until the doctor begins to speak again, and then she's sweeping her gaze swiftly back to the older woman.

The doctor takes a deep breath and exchanges a glance with her fellow physicians, before seemingly bracing herself. "It means we need to cut inside him to get the cyst out. I know it sounds-"

"You know what? How does it sound? Grotesque? Horrifying? Does it sound like I'm not letting you anywhere near my child with a knife? Because that's what it sounds like to me!" She's on her feet and shouting before Kent can even finish her sentence. Her body language is ferociously defensive as she positions herself between the rest of the room and her child.

"It's drastic, yes, but if we don't do this we risk Roland developing an infection and becoming septic. He needs this, it's-"

Once again, Marian cuts her off. "He _needs_ this?" Incredulity drips with every word, and the features of her face contort into a cross between rage and disbelief.

Regina steps cautiously towards Marian, she reaches for the woman's arm tentatively and tries to make her voice sound calm and soothing when she speaks, "Marian, listen-"

Marian doesn't acknowledge her approach at first, but when she hears the woman's dulcet voice, she reacts volatilely. She takes a step back and quickly shoves Regina's hand away. Regina pretends she doesn't feel that like a slap to the face. Truthfully she's not surprised, but she's disappointed in herself. She should have understood that Marian was acting on autopilot before; she didn't want Regina's comfort, she was entirely focused on her son and looked to the nearest figure for support. _Of course she doesn't want _you_ reaching out to her, Regina. She didn't realize who was doing so before. Now she does, and _of course_ she's repulsed. Why would you think otherwise?_

She's drawn out of her self loathing internal monologue by Marian's yelling. The reverberation of it bounces around the room and rattles in both women's skulls.

"Listen to _what_? They want to _cut into my son_, or did you not hear that part?" She spits acidly.

"No, I heard it." The fury scorching in Marian's eyes grows, and the mother takes a step towards the queen, but before she can get far Regina is speaking again. Not being one to back down, Regina takes a small step forward of her own, and her voice is hushed and furtive when she continues.

"We didn't do this back in the Enchanted Forest; surgery wasn't something that we had discovered yet! Maybe we never would have. We trusted magic and potions and spells to fix everything, but that doesn't work in this world." She considers this for a moment, then sneers when she continues, "Frankly, it didn't often work well in our world either."

Marian is still glaring savagely. So Regina drops the derision, not without an impressive eyeroll, and refocuses, "They don't have magic here and they had to figure something else out. So they did just that. For twenty nine years of the curse this town was just like every other in this world in that it relied on modern medicine to heal people, and that hasn't changed since the curse was broken either. We may have access to magic in Storybrooke now, but not the kind of potion ingredients or magical healers we did back in the Enchanted Forest. Even those didn't come with the understanding of medicine that this world has."

"I know this is scary, but we really don't have a lot of time. Surgery is Roland's only option, and it needs to be soon." Doctor Yin interjects.

Marian is still shaking her head and her jaw is resolutely clenched tight, eyes bright with fear. She leans back so that her hands touch the bed Roland lies in, arms spread out wide in a universal display of protectiveness. Regina glances quickly to the doctors, noting the urgency they're projecting. She turns back to Marian and opens her mouth but the words aren't given a chance.

"You have magic, why can't you heal him? Why have we gone through any of these ridiculous hoops, why can't you just fix him?" Desperation cracks in her voice as Marian glowers at the sorceress.

Regina pinches the bridge of her nose briefly; she knows the woman is grasping at straws. Her voice is measured, but there's a hint of frustration to it, "As I said, that doesn't work here. Believe me, if I could heal him I would have in a heartbeat. I'm not denying him anything, I just don't have the capability to perform complex healing magic. Bumps, cuts, surface wounds I can do. But something like this is beyond my depth, and I would only make things worse if I tried. I understand that all of what's happening is unimaginable for you."

Marian scoffs, "Do you? You understand? Would you let them do this to your son?"

Regina pushes through the deadweight in her gut that comes with the thought of Henry in Roland's position, the memories of him lying in his own hospital bed looking equally tiny coming back to her unbidden.

"Yes."

She speaks without hesitation, and Marian seems almost at a loss with this information. Her shoulders drop ever so slightly, but she's clearly still unconvinced. The doctors watch on in silence, hoping that the queen will be able to persuade the mother to let them operate for the sake of the boy.

"It sounds barbaric, I know. But it's precise. It's studied, and practiced. The doctors won't be slicing haphazardly into his abdomen; they know exactly what they're doing. They know how to do this without damaging his body." She takes another careful step towards Marian, but doesn't extend her arm this time. "I won't make you a promise I can't keep, I can't promise for sure that he'll be okay if you let them do this. But I can promise you he won't be if you don't let them, though."

"He'll die? What you're telling me," Marian feels like she's choking on her own tongue as she forces the words out, "What you're saying, is that he'll die if I don't let them do this?" Her voice is impossibly small, and she's shaking where she stands.

Regina flicks her gaze back to the doctors once more, and they all nod in confirmation.

"Yes, he'll die."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"_He'll die? What you're telling me," she feels like she's choking on her own tongue as she forces the words out, "What you're saying, is that he'll die if I don't let them do this?" Marian's voice is impossibly small, and she's shaking where she stands._

_Regina flicks her gaze back to the doctors once more, and they all nod in confirmation._

"_Yes, he'll die."_

"Yes, he'll die." Regina doesn't say anything else; she doesn't need to.

Long moments of silence stretch out. No one breathes, no one moves. The quiet is finally broken by Roland stirring again and crying out another pitiful "Mama."

Fresh tears spill down Marian's cheeks at that, and she retreats from her stare down with Regina to look over her shoulder at her child. She raises one fist and presses it to her mouth to stifle a sob of her own, and faces Regina and the doctors again. All four are waiting with bated breath.

"How," her voice cracks and the word is barely audible, so she gulps and tries again. It's still a strained whisper when she gets her tongue to work, but at least it's intelligible this time. "How does it work?"

Doctor Kent takes a step forward and the arm Marian had pulled to her chest flies back out to resume her protective position. Her shoulders bunch up and there's an almost feral quality to her. Given a choice between a mother grizzly and this version of Marian, Kent isn't sure who she would find more intimidating. The physician puts her hands up in a placating gesture, and speaks with the same calm assuredness she's employed throughout the whole ordeal.

"We give Roland a drug that makes him sleep deeply. He won't be awake, he won't feel anything, and he won't remember any of the procedure."

"Wait, wait, make him sleep? Is it some sort of sleeping curse? He's a child!"

"No, it's not a curse. It's a medicine, we'll administer it through the IV. And it's only temporary, when we stop giving him the drug, he wakes up. When the surgery is over, and it's okay for Roland to be awake again, we reverse the medication, and he will be conscious within a couple of hours. It's not magic; nothing that happens will have anything to do with magic or spells."

Marian doesn't relax her stance in the slightest, but she also doesn't say anything else, so Kent persists.

"Now, I'm not a surgical doctor, so I won't be performing the procedure. That's why I called my colleagues in. Drs. Yin and Lester are both surgeons, and they will be the ones operating. They're very good at what they do. Roland will be in good hands with them."

Yin chooses this moment to interrupt again, "Mayor Mills is right, we know human anatomy, we know exactly where to cut so that we don't cause damage to the surrounding tissue. From this scan, it appears as though the removal should be fairly standard and uncomplicated. We'll go in, excise the cyst from his liver, and get out. We will make precise incisions, and we make them as small as we can to minimize healing time and tissue damage. When we access his abdominal cavity-

She's cut off by a strangled choking sound coming from Marian. The mother is fighting her own urge to vomit, bile rising in her throat at the thought of any of this happening to her son.

"Hi- his _abdominal cavity_? No. No. No, no, no. _No_."

Yin looks helplessly to Kent and Lester. Regina rolls her eyes at their incompetence before turning to Marian again. After the few cautious steps she had taken towards the other woman, Regina now stands between Marian and the doctors. She resumes her wary approach, but Marian doesn't seem to see her. She's vehemently shaking her head back and forth again with wild unfocused eyes, and determinedly repeating "no, no, no" to everything; the doctors, the room at large, this whole nightmare.

When Regina is only a few feet away she speaks softly, "Marian."

No reaction.

"Marian," still spoken softly, but with more force to it. Enough force to sharpen Marian's focus to the scene around her again. When Regina meets the deep brown of Marian's eyes, for a moment she feels like she's looking into a mirror. She knows the absolute terror of being in this woman's position, having watched in agony as her own son lay fighting for his life. The fear isn't something that can be explained or understood by anyone who hasn't undergone the soul wrenching horror of seeing your child suffer so much. Some sort of recognition clicks in Marian's gaze and she just knows, deep in her gut, that Regina can relate to what she's experiencing.

Her stare softens to some extent, but she makes no move to back down.

"I can't do this, I can't do any of this. This world, this place it's-" She swallows hard and looks at the ceiling momentarily before back into Regina's eyes, desperation shining through clearly. "He's just a baby," she whispers. "He's a baby, he doesn't deserve this, Regina. He's just a little boy. He's my baby."

Regina's nodding, and the only reason why she isn't crying with Marian is from years of practice denying the escape of any tears from her eyes. "I know, I know. It's horrifying, and you're right. He doesn't deserve this. But even though that's true, that doesn't negate the fact that this is happening, Marian. It's not fair, and it's not okay. But it's happening. And he needs you. He needs you to do what it takes for him to get better. And I know none of this is familiar to you, none of this makes sense, and it's not what would have happened in our old world. But Marian, I want to be bluntly honest."

Regina takes yet another step forward and her eyes are laser-fixed on Marian's. "If we were in the Enchanted Forest right now, you would have likely had to travel days to the nearest medicine person. If Roland hadn't developed an infection that was beyond help by that point, they'd place him on a filthy table in some shack. They would have no way of knowing what was really going on, and even if they did figure out it was something other than a disease based fever, I don't think we even knew of cysts in our world. They certainly had no knowledge or manner of performing surgeries. They would have looked at his fever, and given him some sort of herbal remedy. Maybe a potion. And it would. Not. Have. Worked."

She punctuates each word with small motion of her hand, the index finger jabbing towards the floor, before continuing. "If we were in the Enchanted Forest, Marian, Roland wouldn't stand a chance. But we're not there, we're not, and they can help him here."

Eventually Marian forcibly relaxes her posture somewhat, but she still hasn't stepped away.

"You'd really let them do this, this surgery, on Henry?"

Regina doesn't blink and doesn't falter, "Yes. I would."

Another pause, shorter this time but no less tense. Finally, Marian nods.

"Alright." She's speaking to the doctors, but she doesn't remove her eyes from Regina's. "Alright, you can do this."

Her voice is filled with false bravado but very real threat when she does direct her glare at the imposing figures in white coats, "You can do this. But if you hurt my son, if he doesn't live, I can promise you that you will regret it." She holds her stare for a few moments before she steps away from the bed at last and allows them to resume treating her son.

Marian doesn't move more than a few feet, however, and she's stilling watching everything with hawk-like focus. Suddenly she feels the queen's hand lightly on her elbow; briefly enough to pretend it didn't happen, but just long enough to know that it did. She clenches her jaw even more tightly closed and doesn't say a word.

One of the doctors is speaking into a device on the wall that Marian decides must be another type of phone, and she hears another say, "Alright, let's get him prepped and up to the OR quickly."

There's another whirlwind of movement surrounding Roland, and for the fourth time tonight they're pushing his bed and moving rapidly through the halls. Marian curses the size of this damned hospital as her muscles scream at her, but she won't fall behind for anything in the world.

They're nearing a pair of doors that loom before them, but Marian can't fathom why they appear so ominous. Not until she tries to pass through them with the rest of the doctors and her child, and a large man stands in her path. She recognizes him as Ethan, the nurse from earlier, and the rage she felt when he first approached Roland with the IV needle resurfaces tenfold.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but only patients and medical staff beyond this point."

"If you think," she attempts to sidestep the man, "for one second," when that doesn't work she tries brute strength, "that I am leaving my child for one _moment_ of this," also ineffective in her depleted state, "then you are sadly mistaken!"

She has no energy left and no qualms about making a scene at this point. She's pounding her fists against the unfortunate man's chest as he tries to explain to her once again that she isn't permitted into the operating room. She doesn't listen, when suddenly she feels arms enclose around her waist. It feels more like an embrace than a method of restraint, and the last shred of her composure flies out the window. She's hysterical and the doctors start inching the bed further through the doors, knowing that every second they delay only costs Roland more suffering and puts him at further risk.

"Marian, you can't go with them. You can't, they can't do their best work on Roland if you're there breathing down their necks. It's too much pressure." There's a small part of Marian that reacts to the queen's voice in her ear; at the same time that it soothes her, it also stirs something in her chest that she can't name. The sensation is confusing, but she pushes it aside. It's nowhere near pertinent enough to distract her from what's happening with her son.

When she makes another charge at an entirely overwhelmed Ethan, the arms around her tighten just barely, and she's shocked when she feels Regina's chin almost resting on her shoulder. Regina is silently cursing herself, knowing she's crossing back into the same territory as before.

_Marian has made it clear she doesn't want your comfort, Regina. _But she's left with little option. They can't wait any longer to get Roland into surgery, and someone needed to stop Marian from flailing her fists furiously at the nurse. And while the thought of being pushed away in disgust for the second time tastes like acid, she'd prefer it to making Marian feel trapped and crushed in an unwanted physical constraint.

"If they can't handle pressure then they shouldn't be cutting into my child!" She all but screams.

"It's not the same thing and you know it. It will only put Roland at risk if you are in there." Regina is trying to be the voice of reason, but she knows if she were Marian she'd be charging her way into the OR as well. Her voice is as soothing as she can make it, and she speaks quietly, trying anything to calm the distressed mother.

"It's the only way to do this, Marian. They'll take care of him. They'll watch over him. You can do this, he needs you to." She feels Marian relent the scarcest amount, and seizes her opportunity.

"Go. Now."

The doctor's don't waste another moment and begin rushing through the hall once again. Regina steps away from Marian swiftly and grabs the one called Lester roughly by the arm before he can follow after them.

"That boy lives, is that clear? If he doesn't survive, none of you do. And if Marian doesn't end all of you herself, I'll make sure it happens. Do you understand me?" There is no denying the presence of the Queen in her command, and Lester isn't foolish enough to take her statement as anything but absolute truth. He nods gravely before taking off in pursuit of the rest of the team rapidly disappearing down the corridor.

Regina turns back to Marian, and what she sees is another twist of the knife that lodged in her stomach at the start of this awful night. The woman is half a breath from collapse, the emotional toll finally closing in on her. The queen braces herself for rejection, and in two quick steps Regina is right there and poised to catch. When Marian inevitably crumbles, she falls directly into Regina's open arms.

The mayor awkwardly shuffles them closer to the wall so they don't obstruct the middle of the hall before letting them sink slowly to the unforgiving linoleum flooring. She sucks in a breath when instead of scrambling away, Marian balls her fists in Regina's shirt and burrows her face into the queen's neck. Huddled against the wall, Regina can do nothing but hold on while the darker skinned brunette finally releases all the sobs she's been forcing back since yesterday night.


	6. Chapter 5

_The mayor awkwardly shuffles them closer to the wall so they don't obstruct the middle of the hall before letting them sink slowly to the unforgiving linoleum flooring. She sucks in a breath when instead of scrambling away, Marian balls her fists in Regina's shirt and burrows her face into the queen's neck. Huddled against the wall, Regina can do nothing but hold on while the darker skinned brunette finally releases all the sobs she's been forcing back since yesterday night._

Regina hasn't counted the minutes, but she knows they've been curled in the same position on the floor long enough for three orderlies, a handful of nurses, and the occasional doctor to ask them if either of them needed medical attention. Each time someone has approached them asking, "Is she alright?" Marian had clung tighter to Regina, who quickly shooed the intrusive party away.

They've also been there long enough for Regina's left ass cheek to go completely numb. At this point she's not sure if she'll ever regain feeling in it, but she deems that unimportant for the time being. She has no intention of moving until Marian is ready. So she ignores the sensation, or lack thereof, in her ass and continues rubbing soothing circles on the woman's back. It's the same steady, consistent motion that would always calm Henry whenever he was upset, sick, or hurt.

The queen even caught herself humming Henry's favorite lullaby a few minutes ago, unaware of how long she'd been doing so. She supposes it's become a bit of a reflex after all the times she's comforted him, but it makes her feel even more foolish. She barely knows Marian. She couldn't have just left the woman alone to fall apart in the middle of the hospital hall, but now she's terrified she's crossed too many lines and once Marian regains her bearings she'll be angry with Regina for taking such familiarities.

Eventually the sobs die down into occasional sniffles. She hears Marian mumble something, but it's muffled because the bandit still has her face buried in Regina's neck, who has to pull away an inch or two to softly ask her to repeat what she's said. Marian wipes at her eyes, but that's when she notices the large tear stain soaking through the collar of the olive skinned woman's shirt and the wrinkles that may never come out of the silk fabric from how hard she had grasped it in her fists.

She opens her mouth to repeat what she had said before, but what comes out instead is "I ruined you shirt."

For a moment Regina says nothing, she just draws her brow together in confusion, unsure if that was what Marian had been trying to communicate to her before.

"What?"

"Your shirt. It's ruined. I ruined it, I'm sorry." Marian sounds alarmingly distant; she hasn't lifted her eyes from the tear stain of Regina's night shirt.

Regina rubs Marian's bicep softly before dipping her head to try to catch the other woman's gaze. She speaks quietly, hoping to snap the other woman out of whatever trance she's in, "Marian, it's alright. The shirt is irrelevant. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, it's just pajamas."

Marian nods minutely, but she still seems to be in her own world. Her eyes are glazed over slightly, and Regina's concern is growing. She squeezes both the woman's arms now, and shakes her shoulders lightly.

"Marian, would you like to move to the waiting room? The chairs there might be a bit more comfortable than the floor." She mutters quietly under her breath when she adds, "Although I doubt by much."

For whatever reason, that's what seems to break Marian's daze. "Move? I don't- But what about Roland?"

She cranes her head around the queen's shoulder to get a better look at the doors her son and the doctors disappeared through. Regina once again moves to reenter the woman's eye line.

"It's okay, that's why they call it the waiting room. It's where family can stay while they wait for doctors to come tell them news. It's not far, and the doctors know exactly where it is. In fact, they probably expect us to be there. And I didn't want to say anything before, but to be honest, we are kind of in the way here. They had to move a gurney around us twenty minutes ago, and they weren't too thrilled about it."

Marian whirls her head around the hall, as if the gurney was still there for her to observe. She's even more confused, having never noticed it in the first place. It doesn't even matter at this point, they clearly figured out how to maneuver around them, but she's utterly lost about what to do with this information on top of everything else. She lets out a quiet, "Oh," and then she's starting to retreat a bit into her stupor.

Regina shakes her shoulder again, even more gently than the first time. "Marian? Come on, dear. Let's go find somewhere to sit, alright?" When the other woman doesn't appear to really process what Regina's said, the olive skinned woman begins to pull them both to their feet. It takes a little time and effort, both are exhausted, but soon they're both standing and moving slowly down the hall towards what the signs indicate as the waiting room.

* * *

Marian is seated in a hard, uncomfortable chair made of an unnatural material in an unnatural color. She's hunched over, staring at the floor with an unfocused glare, and her hands are clasped tightly together in her lap. Regina had nudged the unbalanced woman carefully into the seat much the same way she had when they reached the room Roland stayed in briefly before. The queen had stepped away to make a phone call, but not before pulling the bandit's cloak around the woman's shoulders, straightening it from its state of disarray and hoping to offer some meager comfort.

Now Regina stares out the window to the sky, watching it slowly grow pinker as the sun starts creeping its way above the trees. She's got the phone pressed to her ear, waiting for the person on the other end of the line to pick up. On the sixth ring, she wonders if she should just give up and try again later, but she supposes it is early and she knows for certain she's waking them up with this call.

Finally a scratchy, irritated voice grumbles into the speaker. "Who is this? Do you know what time it is?"

"Do _you_ know what time it is, dear? You sound like you haven't woken in a century." Regina is dead tired, and she knows it's much too early for this, but she can't help herself. The bickering just comes to her naturally.

For a moment all she hears is shuffling, as the person on the other end presumably shifts around to get a look at their clock.

"Regina, it's 5:40 in the morning. What the hell's going on? Are you okay, is everything alright?" When they return to the call, the sleep in their voice has been replaced with apprehension. Mostly.

"I'm alright, Emma. But there is a situation at the moment. I need a favor, if you would be so inclined." The queen can't fight the small upturn of her lips when she hears the very evident concern in the woman's voice on her behalf. She knows that she and Emma have begun an, albeit unconventional, friendship, but it still surprises her a little to realize the sheriff cares.

"What do you mean, situation? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, dear. But I'm at the hospital-"

Before she can finish what she was about to say, Emma's alarmed yelp of "_What?!" _ fills her ear. The mayor reflexively rips the phone away from her face, and when she pulls it back Emma is still shouting.

"Regina! The hospital is not '_fine, dear.'_ What the hell happened? Are you sick? Are you hurt? Did someone do this?" The blonde's voice is so loud it's coming through the speaker clearly enough for the others in the room to hear and Regina is beginning to receive pointed glances from those around her.

"Emma!" She shushes in as loud a whisper as she can, "Will you _please _calm down? I'm not sick or hurt, and if you'd let me finish my sentence you'd understand why I am at the hospital. _At _the hospital, not _in _the hospital."

She hears silence, a breath being let out, and then "Sorry," spoken more quietly this time.

"Yes, well." Regina clears her throat, a little caught off guard by just how strong Emma's response was to the thought of her in harm. "Wait, did you wake Henry with all that yelling?"

"Regina, the kid sleeps like a log. You know, you've been trying to get him out of bed in time for school for years. Now, come on. Get to the point, or I'm going to come find you and make sure you're alright myself. What the fuck is going on?"

"You remember Marian?"

"Um, Marian? The woman I rescued and brought back with me from the past? The woman who's return made you hate me and not talk to me for weeks? I vaguely recall."

Regina gives one of her more impressive eyerolls. It's downright artistic, really, and she's a tad disappointed that it had no audience. So she does everything to ensure Emma can hear just how hard she rolled them in her response.

"Yes, Emma. That would be the one. Have you finished yet, or should I wait?" She hears nothing once again, so she takes that as the blonde finally listening. Or at least, as Emma being quiet long enough for her to take the opportunity to continue.

"Marian called me a few hours ago. Roland, her son. You remember _him_, yes?" This time she doesn't pause long enough for the sheriff to say anything. "He's very sick, and she didn't know where to take him for help in this world, or what to do here. She called me, I went to their campsite and brought them to the hospital. Apparently Roland has a cyst on his liver. They're operating on him right now."

"Wow. That's some shitty night. Poor kid. Poor Marian, too. Is he going to be alright?"

"I believe so. Or at least I very much hope so. I made it clear to the doctors that that was the only acceptable outcome, anyway." She ignores Emma's semi-amused snort at that.

"So what about Marian? How's she holding up? She must be a mess right now" As Emma speaks, Regina turns slightly to see the woman in question. Marian is in the same position as she left her, still curled in on herself staring at the floor.

"Yes, I'd say that's an accurate summation. She's…in shock, more than anything. All of this is so alien to her. We had nothing like this whatsoever in our world."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it. That's really tough. So what did you want to ask me? However I can help, just let me know."

"Well, I know I was supposed to come pick up Henry at 9:30 this morning, but I don't think that's going to really be feasible. I can't just leave them here, and I have no idea how long this is going to take." She knows it's unavoidable at this rate, but the thought of disappointing Henry still leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

When Emma speaks, it's as though she can tell what's running through Regina's mind. Her voice is reassuring and gentle, "That's not a problem, Regina. I'll just explain to him what's going on when he wakes up and he'll understand. Hell, he'll be proud of you for helping them out like that."

"You think so?" Regina is thoroughly embarrassed at the way her voice comes out, breathless and vulnerable.

"Yeah, I do. What you did tonight was really incredible, Regina. So don't worry about Henry. Everything will be fine. Now there's got to be something else I can do to help."

"Ah, well if you're offering?"

"I am." The resolution and kindness in Emma's answer helps ease some of the anxiety that always comes for Regina in asking others for help.

"I rushed out in my pajamas to go to them, do you think it would be at all possible for you to stop by my place and grab me some clean clothes and bring them by here? You can just use Henry's key." While the thought of Henry's birth mother rifling through her things isn't entirely appealing, she'd sooner leave the task to Emma than anyone else in this town. Her pajamas are covered in dirt from the forest, sweat from frantically running through the halls, tears from Marian's crying, and the certain plethora of unpleasant bacteria from sitting on the floor of the hospital. She's starting to feel the grime crawling on her skin, and she wants out of these clothes. She also isn't wildly fond of all of these complete strangers seeing her in her night wear.

"Yeah, Regina that's not a problem. I'll swing by in a couple of hours, would that be okay?"

"Yes, that would be perfect. I'll text you to let you know where to find me." The relief at the thought of clean clothes seeping out plainly. "And, Emma?" She takes a deep breath, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Regina. I'll see you soon." They bid each other goodbye and disconnect the call.

Regina pockets her phone and makes her way back over to Marian, who is still stock still and locked in the same position. The skin on her knuckles stretches tight as she squeezes her own hands forcefully. The olive skinned brunette quietly sits next to the statuesque woman, and she lightly rests her left hand over both of Marian's. She doesn't say a word, and Marian doesn't respond. Regina releases a small, inaudible sigh, and settles in to wait.


	7. Chapter 6

_Regina pockets her phone and makes her way back over to Marian, who is still stock still and locked in the same position. The skin on her knuckles stretches tight as she squeezes her own hands forcefully. The olive skinned brunette quietly sits next to the statuesque woman, and she lightly rests her left hand over both of Marian's. She doesn't say a word, and Marian doesn't respond. Regina releases a small, inaudible sigh, and settles in to wait._

The silence drags on. It's almost painful, but Regina knows there's nothing she can say at this point. Her hand still sits atop Marian's; thumb absentmindedly stroking over the frightened mother's knuckles. Marian has yet to move a muscle since initially occupying the chair, except that she's quaking where she sits.

"It didn't seem that bad at first." When Marian speaks it catches Regina by surprise. She jumps, almost undetectably, then faces the other woman.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It really wasn't that bad at first. All children get fevers, and I thought he would sleep it off." Marian chokes up before she can continue the thought, and Regina feels the need to say something.

"Marian," she starts softly, "You don't have to-" She's cut off by the look the other woman gives her. The distraught intensity burning in her eyes makes it clear to Regina that Marian _does_ have to get out whatever it is that's on her mind. So she squeezes the bandit's hand, and gestures for her to keep going. Marian blinks a few times, clearing more gathering tears before speaking again.

"He wasn't that warm at first, but when I woke up this morning…or, well, I guess it's yesterday morning now. He was drenched in sweat and the fever hadn't broken. I tried using cool water on a cloth against his forehead to bring it down, and for a little while it seemed to work. He spent most of the day asleep, but his forehead seemed cooler. He managed to eat a little soup even. But by the evening he said he was nauseous, that his tummy hurt." Marian takes a deep breath, her voice cracking. "He started throwing up. I was getting so worried, but I didn't know what I could do. I knew this wasn't just a normal childhood illness, but I didn't know what, or how. I just, I didn't know. And now my baby is really sick, and he's in that room and they're, they're-" She can't finish the sentence. A new wave of tears is taking over her, and she places her face in her hands.

Regina puts an arm around Marian's shoulder and pulls her back into another embrace. She rubs the same soothing circles that she did on Marian's back before, but now on her arm.

"Marian, please listen to me carefully. You didn't fail him." Marian starts to argue, but the queen shuts her down. "No, you did not fail him. You did everything you could for him. And when that wasn't enough, you got help. It doesn't matter that you didn't know where or what the hospital was, or what else to do. Because you did the only thing you needed to, you found someone who could help. You called me." Regina swallowed hard and her shoulders bunch with tension. "I know how difficult that must have been for you, to ask me of all people for help. And now he's where he needs to be, the doctors are helping him. They're going to fix him up and he'll be just fine. You can't possibly know how to cure every illness he'll ever have, but you did what it took to get him to someone who does know how to do just that. And that's the only thing that matters. You got him to help, and that's as much taking care of him as if you were the one fixing him up yourself, alright, dear?"

For a while Marian says nothing, she just wipes at her eyes and sniffs periodically. Then, softly, "Thank you."

Regina isn't sure what specifically she's being thanked for; the mad dash to and about the hospital, the shoulder to lean on, or the speech she just gave; but she figures it's immaterial.

"You're welcome," spoken just as quietly. And she means it, for any or all of the things Marian could be thanking her for. It goes silent again, and they pass the time with Marian still resting against Regina and the mayor rubbing the bandit's arm up and down.

When Marian starts to sit up straight again, for a split second Regina reacts by tightening her grip. She immediately catches herself and releases the woman's shoulder like it's on fire, internally cursing at herself with vigor. She awkwardly smoothes out the wrinkles in her silk pajama bottoms, and fixates on the sheepskin boots she'll deny owning later. She'd thrown them on in her rush earlier that night.

Marian gracefully ignores the unease that had charged the space between them, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. She feels as though she's going to burst with the question that's been on her mind all night, she'd asked it earlier and gotten no response. She isn't sure if she should ask again, but before she gets the chance Regina's rich voice sounds next to her.

"How did you get in touch with me tonight? Obviously you acquired a phone, but how did you get my number?" The question comes out stiff and demanding. Regina is making a hasty retreat behind the military grade armor guarded walls she has spent her entire life constructing around herself; it's the only thing she knows.

"Oh. Robin, when he left, he gave me this." Marian pulls a small cell phone out of the folds of her burgundy cloak; it's simple, nothing like the complex smart phone technology available, and clearly its only function is making and receiving calls. Regina recognizes it at once as the phone Robin used while he was still in Storybrooke.

"He showed me how to use it. It took me a bit longer than I'm proud of to understand it. Truthfully, I still don't really know how it works. I just press the button with the green picture on it when it starts making noise and then I can talk to Robin. He calls from different places. We don't talk that often. Really it's so he can keep in touch with Roland and I can keep him informed on how Roland is doing." She isn't sure why she felt compelled to add the last bit, but she shifts in her chair awkwardly before refocusing. "He, ah, well he also showed me how to call you. He said he had your…_number?_" She looks to Regina for confirmation that that was the correct term, and continues when she receives a nod. "Right, your number. He said yours was the only one he knew in this town, that you had put it in this phone when you two were, well, you know."

Regina coughs, but forces her voice not to show her discomfort when she states, "Yes, I recall putting my number in this phone." The queen tugs her black pea coat jacket closed around her middle and closes her mouth. Marian nods just a little too animatedly to be natural while she fiddles with the phone in her lap.

"Yes, so he told me if there was ever some sort of emergency that needed immediate attention, he'd be too far to help, and that I should call you. He said all I had to do was push the button that has the number 2 on it and then the one with the green picture. He seemed, quite convinced that you'd be willing to help. Frankly, I didn't really believe him." She senses the other woman's frame go even more rigid at that, so she quickly turns to her, "I was wrong though. Obviously." And then she's nodding again, though she doesn't understand why.

"I see," is all Regina says.

"Why did you?"

"Hmm? What's that, dear?" Marian suppresses her own urge to roll her eyes at Regina's deliberate obtuseness.

"Why _did_ you help us? You didn't have to." The bandit persists, she knows she might be poking a bear with a stick, but she has to know. She had figured when she'd called the queen that the woman would have instantly hung up, if she answered at all considering the late hour. Again, Regina remains silent in response. When Marian glances to the other woman, she can see the queen working her jaw with a somewhat distant expression of her own. But she can see the gears turning in Regina's mind, so she says nothing and waits.

She realizes she's been holding her breath, but Regina still hasn't made a sound and her lungs can't wait for the queen to answer. So Marian releases the breath in a muted _woosh_, which sharpens the other woman's focus again. She lifts her chin and turns towards Marian, and finally Regina opens her mouth to speak.

"Marian, Madame Mayor. Roland's out of surgery now." The click of Regina's jaw snapping shut follows a half second after Doctor Yin's voice carries over to the two women and stops whatever sentiment the mayor was about to express in its tracks. Marian is instantaneously on her feet and rushing over to the doctor with Regina hot on her heels.

"How is he? How did it go? Is he alright? Can I see him?" The questions are flying out of the mother's mouth a mile a minute, and while Regina says nothing, her fierce glower demands the same answers.

Yin smiles, and before she even begins to answer the barrage of questions both Marian and Regina feel a surge of hope in their chests.

"Roland is going to be just fine. The surgery went beautifully. There were no complications, and he was a real trooper. We got the whole cyst with no problems."

"He's okay? He's-" She gulps in air, and it feels like it's the first time tonight she's been able to take a full breath. "Roland's really okay?"

Yin steps forward and rests a hand on Marian's shoulder. She firmly repeats, "Roland is okay."

And then suddenly Marian is hugging the surprised woman. She's got about a foot in height on the very small Doctor Yin, and with the cloak unintentionally sweeping out around both of them, Yin practically disappears entirely into the crushing hug. Regina stands two feet behind, a wide grin splitting her face and one hand clutching tightly to her own stomach. She watches and ignores the very familiar sting of always being the one off to the side, not included in the celebration.

When Yin finally breaks away from the embrace, she looks a tad shell shocked but not annoyed. She smiles again, and takes a step back and a moment to right herself. Marian looks like she might be embarrassed for a moment, but the beaming expression lighting up her face overshadows it. Yin tugs at the hem of her scrubs and when she speaks again, she's regained her composure.

"I can take you to see him, if you'd like."

"Yes! Yes, of course! Take me right now, please." The response leaves Marian in one rush of air and she's moving before Yin even takes a step, Regina following suit.

"Oh, Marian, just a moment."

At that, the mother whips around and Yin is once again left with the impression of a mother grizzly when looking to the woman. "You can see him, but the cloak needs to go first. We need to keep a clean environment around him to avoid Roland getting an infection, and that robe has been out in the woods and dragged across the floor. There's dirt and leaves, and whatever else on it, I can't let it in the room with Roland right now."

Marian looks dumbfounded, tugging lightly at the sides of her cloak. She would be insulted if she had any idea what to do with what the doctor just told her.

"But, I don't have any other clothes with me to change into."

"We'll get you a pair of clean scrubs to wear, it'll just take a quick moment, and then you can see him right after that. I promise."

The mother nods, not sure what 'scrubs' are, but she doesn't care. She'll put on chainmail if it means this infernal hospital will let her see her son.

* * *

Marian stands in the hallway outside a small room. It's the same one they had placed Roland in before, or so she thinks. She didn't pay the room number much mind the first time she was here. She's dressed in the strange matching shirt and pants set that all the hospital staff seems to wear, what she now knows are called scrubs. Hers are a pale blue. She'd been stunned at how soft the fabric felt, nothing like the thick wool of her cloak or the rough cotton of her dress. Her long, dark hair is tied back loosely like Kent and Yin's. She straightens her shoulders a little, and her right hand sits heavily on the door handle. Marian grips it strongly, but doesn't make a move.

She doesn't flinch, but doesn't relax her muscles either, when she feels the warm palm of a hand rest against her shoulder. Neither does she look, she knows it's Regina. Marian shuts her eyes forcefully and inhales sharply. She doesn't know what's on the other side of this door, or what condition she'll find her son in once she enters. Her mind is still reeling at the notion that one can slice into someone's body and not do irreparable damage in the process. In the time spent in the waiting room, her thoughts swirled in a downward spiral imagining the worst possible things that could have happened to Roland, and now she's terrified any one of them might have become real.

"You can do this." Regina's encouragement echoes her words from earlier, and they have much the same effect. Marian nods once, short and brisk, before taking another deep breath and opening the door. Regina steps to the side and remains in the hall, wanting to give mother and son their privacy.

The lights in the room are dim, but there's watery early morning sunlight filtering through the crack in the curtains. More machines fill the room, making quiet chirping noises here and there. There's a nurse; Karen, she thinks; writing something on a piece of parchment attached to a thin, metal surface. She hears the door click shut behind her, and she takes another tentative step into the room. When she walks in far enough to see around Karen, she feels more tears sliding down her face. He's right there, lying in the bed. He's still and so heartbreakingly tiny. But he's breathing and he's all in one piece. His eyelids flutter the barest amount and his little chest is rising and falling steadily.

Marian is by his side in two strides. She measures every inch of him, surveying for any harm or injury, but everything about him appears the same. The only difference is the edge of a clean, white bandage poking out of the opening in the robe like gown they've dressed him in. His curly brown hair is getting long enough to fall in his eyes, and she thinks to herself she needs to cut it soon. She moves to push it out of his face, but quickly retracts her hand. She looks to Karen, and with a tremor she asks, "Will I hurt him if I touch him?"

The nurse smiles kindly and shakes her head, "No. That's fine. Just be gentle, obviously. But you won't hurt him."

Marian nods silently, chewing on her lip as she gingerly brushes Roland's hair back. She places a soft kiss to his forehead, while closing her eyes to try to keep the tears from landing on him.

"How long until he wakes up?" She whispers.

"He should be awake again within the next two hours or so. But he's been through a lot, his body is going to need rest. So he'll probably be in and out of sleep for a while."

"Right, right. Okay. Thank you." Marian's voice has gotten even quieter. She's desperate for Roland to open his eyes and look up at her again, but she won't rob him of any of the sleep he so badly needs. She sits down in the same chair she rested in hours ago, takes hold of his hand, and waits torturously like she has been all night.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry for the unfortunate Hook reference with the phones. I'm not a fan of the pirate, but I did think that line was funny when he was talking about using a cell phone, and I think it's a fairly accurate reaction to the technology.


	8. Chapter 7

**AN****:**_ Sorry for the wait!_

* * *

_Marian's voice has gotten even quieter. She's desperate for Roland to open his eyes and look up at her again, but she won't rob him of any of the sleep he so badly needs. She sits down in the same chair she rested in hours ago, takes hold of his hand, and waits torturously like she has been all night._

Marian's eyes are bloodshot and stinging. They're begging to close fully and finally allow the mother some rest, but she refuses to sleep until Roland is awake and healthy again. A small part of her mind acknowledges that while he may wake up soon, his recovery will take longer than she can hold out sleep. Although she doubts she'll be getting much sleep at all for the foreseeable future, knowing she'll be kept awake with worry for far longer than this whole ordeal will keep Roland down. She blinks again, trying to relieve some of the burning from her eyes. Her elbow rests on the edge of the bed and her head is propped in her hand, but it's periodically drooping in drowsiness.

The rays of sun filtering through the gap in the curtains have grown brighter as the morning drags on, but she's not sure what time it is. She startles when she hears a knock on the door, and whips around just in time to see Doctors Yin and Kent followed closely by Ethan and Regina. The queen seems a bit on edge, as if she's not certain she should be here, and the sight is jarring for Marian. The thought of Regina not believing she owns whatever room she has stepped into had never occurred to her. She smiles warmly at the other woman, trying to make her feel a bit more comfortable. She hasn't had the opportunity to truly convey how grateful she is for everything Regina did for them yet, and she doesn't even know where to start. She figures that making her feel welcome is as good an opening as any.

The mayor smiles back at her slightly; she tries to keep it aloof but a tinge of relief and a dozen other unnameable feelings shine through. It's barely discernible, and Marian is the only one who catches it. Even then it's only because she was studying the other woman's expression. Regina fastidiously ignores the other woman's inquisitive gaze, but Marian thinks she can see discomfort, and possibly even fear beginning to dominate the emotions warring in the olive skinned woman's dark eyes.

She's pulled from her musings by Yin's voice, and she blinks again to clear her mind. She turns her focus from Regina to face the doctors, clearing her throat uncomfortably when she realizes that she'd been staring a little longer than appropriate. She decides to blame it on being supremely overtired, rather than admit to any curiosity regarding what goes on behind Regina's mask.

"Hello, Marian. We're just here to do a post op exam on Roland."

"Is everything okay?" Marian feels the anxiousness that never fully subsided begin to bubble up in her chest again and fray at her nerves.

Yin senses the shift in the mother and pauses in her exam to look Marian in the eye. "Don't worry, this is standard procedure. We do this for every single patient; we have to keep checking up on him just to make sure he's still okay. It's a precaution. We check his vitals and his incision sight to make sure there aren't any problems. And we also need to change his bandages regularly anyways, for obvious reasons."

Marian nods along and slumps back in her chair. She watches the exam, and she has to choke back bile in her throat when they change the bandage on Roland's abdomen and she sees the spot where they cut into him. There's a razor thin blood red line with black stitching crisscrossing it at regular intervals, and she's curiously both angry with it and grateful for it. It stands for all of Roland's suffering, but it's also what fixed him. Marian doesn't breathe until they've covered the incision again, exhaling forcefully as it disappears behind another blindingly white wound dressing.

Yin starts writing something down as she finishes the exam, and is silent until she sets her pen down. She hands the chart off to Ethan, then directs her attention to the mother, "Everything looks great, Marian. And Roland should be awake any time now. When he does wake up he's going to be thirsty; it's okay for you to give him some water. Not too much right away though, or it might make him feel sick. He might be in a little bit of pain when he wakes up too; surgery isn't easy on the body and he's going to be sore. But it's perfectly normal after this kind of procedure. When he does wake up, you can go fetch one of the nurses and they'll come in and check on him." Yin gestures to herself, Kent and Ethan then says, "Our shift is over, so the doctor who will come in to check on him later won't be me. It'll be Doctor Kapur; she's excellent and she'll take very good care of your son. And Roland's main nurse for today will be Celeste, they're also great. Do you have any questions for me?"

Marian tries to follow along with everything Doctor Yin has just told her, but her fatigued mind isn't processing fast enough. She looks from Yin to Roland back to Yin again without a word. She can feel more tears pricking at the back of her vision when she realizes she has so little knowledge of medicine in this world that she doesn't even know what to ask, let alone where she would start if she did have any questions. Doctor Kent, who has been silent up until this point seems to understand what's going through Marian's mind and steps forward to address her.

"It's alright if you don't have any questions right now. Here's what we can do, Celeste can bring by some basic information we didn't have the time to go over before. You can look through it, get a better understanding of what happened, and what these things mean, and then if you have any questions you can talk to Dr. Kapur, or you can wait until later tonight when Dr. Yin or I come back for our next shift. How's that?" Despite having come off a long overnight shift, Kent hasn't lost any of the tranquil compassion that has marked all of her interactions with Marian from the start. Although there are still a few teardrops sneaking from her eyes, Marian nods graciously at Kent's offer.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Of course. I know it's probably fruitless to say this, but try to relax a little. Roland is a strong, well cared for, and healthy boy. I don't see any reason why he won't be back on his feet and better than ever before you know it."

Marian sighs, and despite herself, chuckles a little bit at that. Maybe it's the absurdity of the thought of relaxing while sitting next to her child's sick bed. Or ever after all of this. Maybe it's just the stress relieving itself in a strange way. Either way, Marian doesn't care. She runs her hand over her face before looking up to Doctor Kent. She gives a watery smile before croaking out, "I'll try."

Kent gives her a knowing look, but says nothing else. Both doctors and the nurse give their goodbyes before making their way out of the room the same way they came in. Once the door closes with a _snick_, silence heavily cloaks the room again. The mayor takes a seat beside the other woman and allows the muted hush to remain undisturbed for several minutes, but soon she feels compelled to speak.

"She's right, you know." Regina's voice is smooth and soft, but it still makes ripples in the quiet of the room.

Marian's response is delayed, as if she didn't even hear the other woman at first. When the words do reach her, her chin drops slightly and her brow stitches together in confusion before she asks, "Who's right about what?"

"Doctor Kent. She said you should get some rest. You should." Regina doesn't meet Marian's eyes; she keeps her gaze straight ahead when she speaks. The bandit turns, and she's met with Regina's profile. She scoffs lightly, then turns back to Roland.

Marian resumes her earlier position, elbow resting on Roland's bed, and places her head in her hand. She saw Regina tense up when she heard her mocking snort. Part of Marian feels guilty, but she has no idea why so she shoves it aside.

"If it were Henry in this bed, would you be able to get any rest? Ever again?"

For a little while Marian hears nothing, and she thinks she's asked yet another question that Regina won't answer. But then there's a distinct "No," from Regina. It's short and full of a loaded significance that Marian is able to detect, but without any knowledge of the woman sitting next to her she can't fully appreciate it. She gets the sense that Regina has something else she wants to say, so Marian stays quiet and waits. It occurs to her that waiting is all she's been doing in one capacity or another for the past two days and she's struck with the inappropriate urge to laugh again. Before she does though, Regina is speaking again.

"He needs you to at least get a little sleep, Marian. You can't take care of him properly if you're sleep deprived."

She knows this, knows she'll have to be sure to remember to take care of herself so that she can take care of her son in the coming days. Marian knows this, but she wishes someone could explain to her how. She feels like every nerve ending in her body is on fire and pulling her towards sleep at the same time. There's chaos in her mind that logically she understands has only been worsened by the lack of sleep on top of all the other panic, but it doesn't seem to matter. All that matters is protecting Roland.

It feels like there's a tornado in her brain, but she doesn't know how to articulate any of this. What she's left with is, "I'm scared."

Regina nods, and Marian can see the woman's mouth moving as well out of the corner of her eye.

"I know."

It's only two words but there's so much weight conveyed in each, and Marian wonders what happened to Henry.

She finds herself searching Regina's face once more, she can't help herself. It seems the longer she looks, the more there is to find. The queen's visage gives away nothing, but she can't contain her profoundly expressive eyes. No matter how adept she is at schooling every muscle to stifle any trace of reaction or sentiment, her eyes are deeply soulful. Marian's stunned by the undercurrent of emotion she can see running through Regina now that she knows it's there. It's all at once remarkably subtle yet glaringly obvious, and Marian wonders if anyone else has ever looked closely enough to notice before.

Suddenly, a small mumbled cry escapes from Roland. It makes Marian's heart stop and her head snaps towards him so quickly she can feel it cracking. Her breath catches in her throat when she watches his little face scrunch up as he fights his way back to consciousness.

The second time he speaks it's no less a whimper, but at least it's understandable this time.

"Mama," Is all he says before there are tears starting to roll down his cheeks. Marian's stomach drops when he lets out another cry, wondering if the doctors really did fix the problem. She smoothes his hair back gently, and makes calming shushing noises to try and reassure him, desperately pleading that he's just disoriented and sore, and not still in danger.

When she hears the door opening, she figures it must be Regina going out to collect the nurse like Yin had mentioned before but Marian is focused solely on Roland. He still hasn't opened his eyes, in fact now they're squeezed shut tighter with the cries he's still sporadically admitting. Marian's combing her fingers through his hair and alternating between, "_Shhh_, _shhh_, little one," and "Mama's right here."

She's not sure how long she's been whispering to him, but suddenly there are big, brown, tear filled eyes staring into hers and it's like the day he was born and the first time he looked up at her. With her baby boy looking up at her now she can't stop smiling, just like she couldn't that day either, and then she's kissing his face over and over, not caring that she's splashing her own tears on top of his.

Eventually she gulps in a deep breath, and regains enough of her composure to half kneel by his bed. The mother tucks some of the boy's hair behind his ears and breathlessly says, "Good morning, little one. I am so glad to see you."


End file.
